


It's Just You

by Sunsetter



Series: The Lies We Tell Ourselves [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Female Protagonist, Female-Centric, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Insecurity, Lesbian Sex, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-02-05 09:04:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12791268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunsetter/pseuds/Sunsetter
Summary: Victoria Chase may be many things, but one thing she is not – is gay. Yes, Max is a girl, and yes, the two of them had sex, and yes, now Victoria can’t stop thinking about her. But she is definitely... not... gay.Definitely.





	1. Chapter 1

If someone had told Max she’d spend the entirety of Mr. Jefferson’s class glaring at the wall clock in a firm grip of boredom, she would’ve said “Just like every other time then?” Only this time there actually was something different. In lieu of her usual strategy of intermittently paying attention, she was now entirely focused on the nigh-immovable dial, resenting the fact that her time manipulation didn’t extend to fast-forwarding. It wasn’t that these classes were unbearable periods of monotony – at times they were somewhat interesting. But there’s only so much you can to do keep up when your mind is wrapped up in far more important matters. And when importance is concerned, there was little that compared to the monumental decision that Max came to last night. After long hours of deliberations and weighing of pros and cons, she had finally made up her mind: She was going to talk to Victoria.

This was a terrible idea of course. Only minutes before, she dared to glance at the irascible blonde that sat close to her and the pursed lips and clenched jaw Victoria reacted with told her as much. But both Max’s conscience and her need to resolve this in one way or another left no other recourse viable. She may be facing a verbal equivalent of poking a hornet’s nest, but that seemed far more preferable to the gnawing guilt that was hounding her these past few days. The fact that Taylor was absent today meant Max just might have  a chance of catching Victoria by herself, and if she was lucky...

“Max.”

... maybe begin to resolve this...

“Max Caulfield!”

“Uh, yes Mr. Jefferson?”

“Good of you to join us, Max,” he said in slight frustration. “Now perhaps you’d like to grace us with an answer as well?”

Max paused, trying to recall the last thing they talked about. And rather than admitting she wasn’t paying attention, she went for a guess instead.

“Um... Ansel Adams?”

“That’s very good, Max. That _is_ the correct answer... to the question I asked twenty minutes ago. Now try this one: What is a quadtych?”

“Oh, it’s a presentation of four pictures”

Jefferson glared at her for a moment, during which Victoria huffed her dislike of Max’s answer. And though it came as a surprise to the brunette that Victoria would even acknowledge her in any way, there was no denying she was right.

“Correct,” Jefferson confirmed. “Now, the term has been used for some time and has actually become...”

But whatever the word has become was lost on Max as her attention slinked away towards the impending confrontation. A little while later she  was once again stirred, though this time by Victoria’s voice.

“Mr. Jefferson, I’m ’not feeling well. May I be excused?”

“Sure, Victoria.”

 _Damn._ For a moment Max thought about doing the same, but there was only three minutes left to the end and going after VIctoria now would draw attention to them, which is something she wished to avoid. Catching up to the blonde seemed to be the only choice. Hopefully Courtney wont latch on to her in the little time that remained.

One second after another, Max waited patiently and as soon as class was dismissed, she bolted out of the classroom. She scanned the hallway as she rushed to the exit, catching no glimpse of the telltale pixie cut. The thought of bumping into Victoria in the bathroom brought a guilty smile to Max’s lips, but she was reasonably sure the girl went back to her room. And in the time it took the brunette to reach the dorm, she had an opportunity to consider what the hell was she even going to say.

_So, Victoria... remember that time when we kind of, sort of, had sex in the bathroom? Yeah, good times, huh?_

_Listen, Victoria. I’m sorry I got carried away, but seriously, you had it comi--_ No, no. Stupid idea.

 _Ok Chase, I went down on you, so it’s only right that you return the favo--_ Noooo. Definitely not.

None of those came even remotely close to somehow rectifying the situation. What’s more, the fact that Max was now walking down the hallway that led to her dreaded destination meant improvisation was the only choice. If only she could rewind some half a million times until she finds the right answer, but ever since she prevented Kate from jumping off the roof, any extensive use of her powers made her progressively more ill. _No, Caulfield. You’re on your own._

She steeled herself and knocked on the door. A few moments of silence before Victoria’s voice reached her.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Max.”

“Go away!” the blonde shouted from the other side.

“Victoria, please. I really think we should talk.”

The door suddenly swung open to reveal Victoria standing there in seething fury.

“We have nothing to talk about,” she growled in a lowered tone of voice. “Do you understand? Nothing!”

She slammed the door shut, right in the face of the stunned brunette.

_Ok, so... that went well._

Max quietly made her way to her own room. This was it then. She’d have to go on like this, with Victoria hating her more than should humanly be possible, and her foolish self wallowing in guilt one day after another. It was strange how she only felt bad about what happened once there was no way of taking it back. There were interesting moral questions to be posed there, but it was nothing the dejected Max was currently in the mood for. If only there was someone she could turn to for help, advice of some sort. But that train of thought only yielded one name in her mind. It was a terrible idea. But when did that ever stop her?

 

*

 

The following morning Max was making her way to Chloe’s house. If yesterday was any indication, she’d spent most of the day in and out of various classes, leaving her too tired for anything come nightfall. So she thought it best to stop by her friend’s place before it all, and try to talk to her. She wouldn’t tell her everything of course, but some vague semblance of the event that was bothering her might just be enough to inspire Chloe into giving her some advice, even though the blue-haired girl was probably the last person she should be asking for help here.

Either way, she was approaching Chloe’s driveway when she saw Mr. Madsen in front. Before she even had time to greet him he grunted his dissatisfaction of her arrival, but made no other comment which was as good of an invite as Max was going to get. She rushed past the entrance and up the stairs, into the room of her nigh-comatose friend. The feel of somebody sitting on the bed did nothing to rouse Chloe, and Max’s pokes and prods fared no better.

“Chloe. Hey... Chloe, wake up.”

“Wh... Max?”  the blunette stirred, squinting in groggy bewilderment. “What are you... fuck, man. It’s early as fuck o’ clock! Wh-what do you want?”

“I know, I’m sorry, but I really need to talk to you.”

“Ughh, can’t it wait?” Chloe asked as she closed her eyes and shoved her face into the pillow hoping Max would go away.

“No, I have classes later!”

“Fine... fine.”

“So... I need some advice. It’s about-- Are you listening?!”

“Uh, wha-- yeah, yeah.”

Max watched to see if she was sufficiently aware before she began.

“Ok, so... Imagine something happened between you and another person, uh... hypothetically, of course. And it shouldn’t have happened, but it did. And now it’s kind of weird between the two of you, even more than before. You can’t even talk to them, because you’re pretty sure they hate you, but you feel guilty so you can leave it like this. But no matter what you do, she won’t let you go near her, even though you’re sure that for a moment there _was_ something between you two, and you’re pretty sure she feels the same even though she’d probably walk into oncoming traffic than admit it to anyone, least of all you.”

“D-did you say ‘she’?” Chloe mumbled into the pillow, still half asleep.

“What? No! I meant ‘they’... i-it’s hypothetical.”

Chloe glanced at her with one half-lidded eye and then pulled her down onto the bed, right next to her. ”Chill, Max. I don’t hate you.”

“Wh-- Chloe! This isn’t about us, focus!” the brunette protested as she tried to untangle herself from the Chloe’s hug.

“Well then bother me some other time, you’re such a pain in the ass.”

“I’m not a... hey, wait. That-that’s actually not bad idea.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, that way she won’t’ be able to... yeah...” Max went on, more to herself than for Chloe’s benefit. She mulled it over for a minute or so and then leaned down to give the blue-haired girl a peck on the cheek. “Thanks Chloe.”

Chloe mumbled something with a drowsy smile, apparently satisfied she was able to help, but not entirely sure with what. Whatever it was, it was clearly important enough for Max to rush out of the room and let Chloe get back to sleep.

With a quick glance at the time, Max left the house and headed to Blackwell, with a plan already forming in her head. First thing tomorrow morning, she would show Victoria just how much of a pain in the ass she can be.

 

*

 

Ten seconds before the alarm went off, Max reached for her phone to disable it. She had already been sitting upright on her bed for the last half hour, dreading what’s to come. But her mind was made up, so with a resolute sigh she got up and made her way to room 221. As she approached, she glanced at the whiteboard hung on the wall. _“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”_ Ugh. If you say so, Victoria.

The low beat of music immediately died upon Max’s knock. If she had to guess, she’d say Victoria was just on the other side of the door, trying to figure out the identity of her visitor.

“I know you’re in there, Victoria. Can we please talk?”

No answer.

“I’ll just keep standing here until you let me in.”

Nothing.

“VICTORIA, I’M GOING FOR A SHOWER, WANNA COME ALO--”

The door swung open with the exasperated blonde pulling Max into the room before she could finish her overloud enquiry. She slammed the door shut and glared at the brunette like brutally murdering her was quite an appealing notion.

“Are... you... out... _of your fucking mind?!_ What the hell are you doing?!”

“Calm down, there was no one in the hallway.”

“That doesn’t matter! They could hear you across the state! Ugh! I told you to leave me alone!”

Max stood there with a tiny smile, doing her best to stop antagonizing the other girl further. But leaving was not an option. “I will, I promise. After we talk.” Victoria paced around the room for a few seconds, weighing her options. And luckily...

“Fine. Say what you want to say and then get the fuck out.”

“Actually, I was hoping both of us...” Max tried, but a single withering glance from Victoria put a stop to any hope of an actual dialogue. “O-ok, then I’ll just... hm. Look, I know I’m not your favorite person right now, but... what happened happened, and there’s no use--”

“ _Nothing happened_!” Victoria seethed immediately, forgetting her intent to stay silent.

“Well, uh... something happened. I mean I’m pretty sure I didn’t imagine--”

“Well you _did_! Whatever sick fantasies are going on in that head of yours, I want nothing to do with it. And I’d _appreciate_ it if you stopped going around yelling--”

“That we had sex.”

“Shut up!” Victoria screamed out, apparently struggling to keep her hands from strangling the other girl. “Get it through that thick head – keep whatever disgusting shit you’re into all to yourself and never talk to me again. Got it?”

Max’s heart sank with every word. She had come in here confident and even a little arrogant but ultimately friendly, yet a few words from Victoria and she was feeling already feeling utterly dejected.

“Oh that’s nice, Victoria. Really nice. You know, you weren’t so damn eloquent when you had my tongue in your--”

The slap came so fast Max didn’t even see it. The force of the blonde’s hand smacking her in the face caused her to stumble backwards, trip over a backpack, and hit her head on the wooden edge of the bed as she fell down. She could swear her ears were ringing and the sharp pain at the back of her head wasn’t making matters any better. Victoria rushed to her before pausing midway, face covered with ill-concealed worry.

“Oh, god! A-are you okay?”

Max was too dazed to answer, as she sat there rubbing the back of her head. For a fleeting moment she enjoyed having Victoria worry over what happened but she was also getting sick of all this. She got up slowly, ignoring the way the blonde was looking at her.

“God, you’re not gonna have a concussion or something, are you?”

“Don’t worry, Victoria,” Max shot back derisively, “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you with severe brain damage.”

“Don’t say that, it’s probably nothing.”

“Whatever, get of my way.”

“Max, wait, I...”

But the brunette was already walking out. Victoria just watched her as she made her way across the hall and slammed the door shut.

Over in her room, Max faceplanted onto the soft mattress with a frustrated groan. That was it, she thought. Guilt or no guilt, she’s not risking any more bodily injuries just to assuage her conscience. Shower sex or no shower sex, she was staying away from Victoria. And no memories of how great the experience was would be changing her mind.

 

*

 

The cloudless azure sky slowly turned to black. Max was lying on her bed, staring at it for the better part of the hour. The fact that she didn’t go to any of today’s classes didn’t weigh heavily on her mind, which is more than could be said for a certain event from this morning. None of her usual past times proved to be much of a distraction: reading, listening to music or even toying with time did little to keep her mind off of the confrontation with Victoria. And to say that seeing the blonde again was a dreadful prospect would be a grave understatement. Nevertheless, they attended classes together so there was nothing to be done about that. Today would only be short reprieve and an opportunity to get some rest. Or at least it would be if somebody wasn’t knocking at her door.

 _Damn it, Chloe. I said I would talk to you tomorrow._ She got up to open the door, and upon doing so had a shock of a lifetime. Standing on her doorstep was not her blue-haired friend, but Victoria Chase. The girl had such a pained expression on her face that Max was certain somebody was behind her, pointing a gun to her head. What else could’ve possibly driven her to knock on the door of a person she absolutely loathed?

“Uh, hi.” Victoria greeted awkwardly, clearly feeling as uncomfortable as Max was, if not more. They started at each other, Max vaguely remembering it’s customary to say something back, but who the hell would remember at a moment like this. Victoria glanced aside, as if to check if anybody was watching. “C-can I come in?”

Shocked into speechlessness, Max only moved aside as a way of response. Part of her wanted to slam the door in the blonde’s face, but the curiosity as to why she was here was far too great. Because by the look of her, Victoria would rather be anywhere else.

“So, um... how’s your--”

“My humongous hippy head?” Max finally blurted out, remembering the comment Taylor made when she walked past them one day.. “What do you care?”

“Just seeing if I’ll have to pay your medical bills, that’s all.”

For a moment Max thought Victoria was being her usual, bitchy self, but when she glanced at her lips she found them curved into a small smile. A joke? Did Victoria just crack a joke?! A bad one, but still. What the hell was going on? Being stuck in some parallel universe due to a time manipulation mishap seemed like a fairly plausible scenario right now. Yet that didn’t seem to be the case. If this was anyone else, Max would’ve suspected guilt to be the main factor at play, but Victoria probably didn’t even know the meaning of the word.

“It’s fine,” Max finally answered, still trying to process the blonde’s unexpected behavior.

“Oh, ok... so... I just thought I should bring you this,” Victoria said as she handed Max a folder she had under her arm. “It’s just some stuff Jefferson wants us to read.”

The brunette took the thing and examined the contents. It seemed like the usual material they were being handed out on occasion. But then she noticed something. This wasn’t Jefferson’s usual print paper in black and white. This was in color, printed on expensive photographic paper. Then it hit her: Victoria actually printed this personally, _for Max._ What the hell was going on?

“I just thought I should... ‘cause, you probably didn’t come to class because...” Victoria trailed off, clearly uncomfortable with finishing any of those sentences. ”Anyway... I-i should go,” she concluded, as Max stood mute and could do nothing but stare at her. The blonde slowly made her way to the door and then – she paused. It was the strangest thing. She just stood there, back turned to Max without saying anything. A moment later she reached for the door and paused there as well. In the few seconds where her hand simply hovered over the door knob, Max saw she was shaking. Before the brunette could make sense of any of this, Victoria extended her hand – and locked the door.

Max’s eyes widened in surprise. It occurred to her that Victoria may be planning to murder her, but she immediately dismissed the ridiculous thought. Yet there she was, in her own room Victoria Chase and the door locked. And before she had a chance to utter a word, the blonde turned face her. The girl watched her with an indecipherable expression, neither saying something nor moving.

“Uh, Victoria... what--”

She moved then. She walked to her. One step after another, Victoria was getting close to her and Max was getting more and more weirded out by the second.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re--” Max tried, but with a swift move Victoria closed the distance between them and _kissed her._

The feel of those soft lips upon hers instantly deleted every trace of worry or confusion. This was really happening. And the shock of that knowledge made her break the kiss.

“W-wait, Victo--”

“Shut up,” Victoria curtly responded and then captured her lips again. The kiss was hungry, possessive even, but Max had to know.

“Stop, plea--” she attempted, only for her lips to be silenced by the blonde’s yet again. “I thought you hate m--”

“I do, stop talking.”

So Max did. Whatever was happening with Victoria was getting less and less interesting by the second. Victoria pressed urgent, almost angry kisses to her lips, as if she was afraid the brunette would start talking again. Her hands roamed over Max’s body, one grabbing her by the waist and the other sliding up the length of her neck. Max sank into the taller girl’s kiss, eagerly accepting the tongue that was making its way past her lips. She felt herself bump into the table, and somehow realized the desk lamp was lighting them up a like Christmas tree to anyone outside the dorm. She blindly smacked the base of the lamp before hitting the switch, leaving both girl in almost complete darkness.

As if the fervor with which Victoria kissed her wasn’t enough, the light going out seemed to encourage the blonde even further. She reached for the button of Max’s jeans, fumbling for a second before becoming frustrated and yanking the seam to tear it clean off. Max yelped into her mouth, but the feel of Victoria’s tongue exploring her was too good to even think about breaking the kiss. The blonde’s fingers traced the edge of her panties, teasing for a mere moment before slithering inside. The digits slid downward, and Max was painfully aware of the wetness Tori would find there. She blushed at the thought of it, grateful Victoria is too busy bruising her lips with savage kisses to notice it. But then to her chagrin the blonde broke the kiss and pulled back with no more than an inch between them.

Max was hypnotized. She though Victoria would look to escape any such moment of intimacy unclouded by lust, but the blonde was standing there, her hand still in Max’s panties. She smirked when she closed in on her goal, and when the brunette reached for another kiss Victoria doesn’t allow it. She entered Max slowly, smiling smugly when the other girl parted her lips in a silent moan. Fingers glided in deeper, the slick heat welcoming each wonderfully intruding millimeter. Max’s eyes began to close involuntarily, as if the pleasure mounting in her core was sapping her of all energy. But then the impudent blonde grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back, barely sufficient to cause pain but more than enough to get Max’s attention. A message as clear as daylight: _You don’t get to look away._  

Amidst the heat building between them, Max came to a sudden realization. This isn’t just sex – it’s payback. And she couldn’t help but wonder which of those two Victoria was enjoying more. Even as she gazed at the blonde with half-lidded eyes and thrust forward to meet her touch, she could tell how much Victoria was relishing being the one in control. The girl was toying with her now, slowing down and pulling back when Max got too eager, and resuming her work with utmost fervor when the brunette dared to think she could relax for a second.

Max was falling apart. She couldn’t make heads or tails of her state, one moment teetering on the verge of orgasm and the next glaring almost angrily when the sensation stopped and actually considered begging for release. But she doesn’t protest, she doesn’t even try. _I owe her this,_ she thinks, or she’s trying to persuade herself of it. Maybe the desire to submit to Victoria and let the blonde just _take her_ like this isn’t born of some bizarre notion of reciprocity, but her ever-increasing arousal.

Either way, Victoria didn’t relent. Her fingers went in deeper, gliding through the silky wetness. The flat of her palm brushed against the brunette’s clit in an agonizingly teasing manner. Every motion brought Max closer, yet somehow she just couldn’t get over the edge. And it was clear why – Victoria wouldn’t let her. Just as she thought this punishment would go on forever, the blonde’s expression softened and there is something else there, not arrogance but something Max can’t quite decipher. Tori leaned towards her, her fingers working ever faster, and she lays down a path of lascivious licks on brunette’s neck. Moans of approval filled the room and upon hearing them Victoria sucked a hard, wet kiss from her skin, marking Max and making her hers. Max didn’t care it would bruise, that everyone would see it; at this instance the notion fills her with pride. An image appears in her mind – Victoria jealously holding her around the waist to show everyone that it was she that claimed Max Caulfield – and the brunette can’t take any more.

She holds on to other girl for dear life, as fiercely as her sex convulsed around the blonde’s fingers. Obscene sound of wetness reached her ears as Victoria viciously fucks her into the table, fueling the surge of orgasmic energy now wreaking chaos in the petite brunette’s body. She gasped helplessly, incapable of anything but surrender – both to Victoria and the relentless pleasure gripping her. She rides out her orgasm and begins to relax, the blonde’s fingers still deep inside of her. When at length Victoria withdrew, she glanced aside to avoid meeting Max’s eyes, even as a small smirk still lingered on her lips. She steps away, leaving Max feeling completely exposed.

In that moment Max saw in Victoria the same reluctance and uncertainty that gripped her after their first encounter. Still high on euphoria, she clasped the other girl’s face and gently tilted her chin so their eyes meet. She thought Victoria would look away, or worse – slap Max again and leave, but the blonde just stood there, her self-satisfied smile slowly shifting to an almost kind of sadness. Max had an inkling of what this was about, but right now, erasing that doleful look from Tori’s face seemed more important than finding out if she was right. And when she pressed her lips against the blonde’s without encountering any resistance, it was clear she found the right way to do that.

She gently nudged Victoria forward, attempting to divest her of what she was wearing as they kissed and stumbled their way to Max’s bed. In no time at all, they were a disheveled mass of half-stripped clothing, the only constant amidst the fumbling of hands and stroking of limbs was that they never stopped making out. When Victoria’s body hits the matters Max is already reaching up her skirt, fingers gliding up tender skin to reach her panties. A single touch against the thin fabric that covered the blonde’s sex and Victoria moaned into Max’s mouth, giving voice to the pleasure being coaxed out of her. With slow strokes of her digits, Max made the lingerie piece ever more sodden, as she kissed and licked her way down the blonde’s neck, over the strap of her bra and delicate flatness of her stomach, to finally reach her intended goal. She hiked up the blonde’s skirt to reveal expensive looking teal lace panties, and couldn’t help but wonder if Victoria came here wanting this, at least subconsciously.

True or not, the look Victoria gave her while the lacy thing was sliding down her legs made the blonde’s present feelings abundantly clear. That delicious combination of shy uncertainty and growing arousal was something Max could’ve spent the whole night watching, if the lure the girl’s glistening pussy was not too hard to resist. The first glide of her tongue against Tori’s sensitive flesh brought about a moan so loud the blonde’s hand immediately flew to her mouth, desperately trying to keep their erotic encounter a secret. And doing that was becoming increasingly difficult with every second Max spent between her thighs.

As Max licked into the squirming blonde, she felt Tori’s fingers clasp the back of her head to push her further in. The incentive was unnecessary, but the knowledge of how much Victoria wanted her there made the desire to please even greater. Slow laving of the other girl’s dripping entrance gave way to fervent licks fueled by stifled moans. Each swipe of the brunette’s tongue brought with it more of the precious liquid that Max seemed to get more addicted to with each passing second. The deeper she probed, the more did Victoria’s mewling gasps turn to strings of barely audible “yes, yes yes!” And when Max inserted two fingers inside, pressing against that sensitive spot, the slow-building pleasure consuming Tori blossomed into a veritable onslaught of ecstasy.

She clutched Max with her quivering thighs, biting her lower lip to stop herself from screaming out. The gentle spasms of her sex made Max’s fingers wetter with each passing second, until the brunette replaced them with her tongue. With eager licks she devoured Victoria, relishing the taste as much as the knowledge that she was the cause of it all. She kept at it as Victoria calmed down and when she looked up at the blonde to see her hiding her face in embarrassment, the only sign of her state of mind being that goofy grin – only faintly visible in the moonlit room -  which her hands did not conceal.

It came as a bit of a shock to Max not how much she enjoyed making Tori come but _how much she loved watching her smile._ The bizarre nature of their relationship was all but forgotten in these brief moments when all that mattered was pleasure and the tacit realization – one that they were both coming to – that maybe, just maybe, there was something else between them now. But the light of that thought slowly dimmed as Max moved aside to lie next to the blonde, eyes staring at the ceiling and all thought on the rapidly more awkward situation they found themselves in.

Victoria simply lay there as well, neither moving nor speaking, as if any action at all threatened to bring attention to what they just did, to somehow make it real. _Maybe if neither of us say anything,_ Max thought, _maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and find out it was all in my head, and she still hates me, and wants nothing to do with me._ But she didn’t want to force Tori, to try talking to her and put her under a spotlight with even a glance, because she had an inkling the blonde might be dealing with stuff that she knew nothing about.

So Max stayed like that for a while, until tiredness took its toll and she surrendered to a dreamless sleep.

 

*

 

The morning found Max Caulfield in a foul mood. For a few blissful moments as she was slowly waking up she couldn’t quite remember why she was feeling this way, until the memories of the night before caught up with her.

“Fuck...”

She sighed and slowly rose from the bed, not even remotely surprised to see Victoria was gone. She didn’t really expect her to stay, except for one stupidly hopeful fraction of a second where her mind dared to envisage waking up to the disheveled blonde, to find her smiling and content, glad to be with Max.

In reality... well... all the brunette knew for certain is that the previous night was no dream. As for where that night left the two of them... _Fuck, fuck, fuck._

She somehow doubted Victoria would from this day onward do a complete one-eighty and start behaving like a decent human being, like the thing that Max suspected was buried under layers of arrogance, condescension and perpetual readiness to treat Max like dirt under her high-priced shoes. But maybe...

Maybe it will be a start. Maybe it will be enough to pass next to Victoria and not be assaulted by a barrage of insults. To be near her without the blonde looking at her as if her very presence threatened to make her violently ill. _Something like the way she was looking at me last night. That... that would be nice._

But she wasn’t fooling herself. She didn’t want to be set up for disappointment. Three hours from now, one class together and maybe Max will get an idea of where they stand.

 

*

 

It was a once in a lifetime occurrence but Victoria didn’t show up for any of the classes. In a sense it was a relief, but even that was fraught with dread and laced with anticipation. Whatever the situation between them was, Max needed to know. And she couldn’t imagine a worse way of finding out than going back to the dorm to run into Victoria, Taylor and Courtney together, sitting in front of the entrance. Victoria didn’t seem too keen on being there, and in the few moments as Max approached them it seemed as if she was trying to get her friends to leave. But as Max came close Taylor took notice of their present company, the girl’s lips immediately curving into that telltale grin that was usually followed by an insult.

“Sorry, no hipsters allowed,” she smirked and Max had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the taunt.

Courtney seemed mildly amused – although the smirk came off more courteous than genuine - but Victoria seemed uncomfortable. And before Max could even utter a word the blonde beat her to the punch.

“Just let her pass.”

Taylor glanced at her friend in surprise. She clearly expected for Victoria to play along and Tori realized as much. For an awkward few second nobody spoke before Victoria landed on her feet, if you could call a verbal equivalent of faceplanting into the pavement that.

“She, uh... she smells.”

Any other day and Max would’ve burst laughing at the pathetic attempt at an insult, but this time she merely inwardly sighed. _There we go..._

Taylor on the other hand, seemed amused by it. “Oh my god, you’re so right,” she giggled. “Move along, Smellfield, you’re clogging up the atmosphere.”

Max moved past them, ignoring the giggles and the taunts. Inside her room, she opened her laptop to immediately slide it shut, turned on the radio for two seconds before slamming the off button and then typing a word of a message to Chloe before realizing she was randomly pressing letters and flung the phone to her bed. _Fuck!_

It didn’t matter that she spent the entire morning convincing herself she had no expectations. On some level she knew it was a lie. And now... now what? Victoria is still a bitch to her. Really, what else could she expect? Whatever has gotten into the blonde the previous night, it clearly didn’t warrant dropping her usual persona. At least... not in front of her friends. Maybe when they’re alone it will-- _No damn it, get a hold of yourself Max! Just... stop._

She needed to clear her head, try to forget about all of this at least for a short time. So when her phone sounded and she read a massage from Chloe that said “Did you just text me the word ‘blurgh’?”, she smiled and realized some time with her best friend was just what she needs.

 

*

 

It was late, _way_ too late for someone who has classes tomorrow, but Max was walking down the corridor that led to her room with a wide grin on her face. It was a pattern she was growing increasingly aware of; they were hanging out at the diner or chilling at the park and before you know it Chloe has some asinine idea that Max can’t help but go along with. And before the night is over, she’s either saving the blunette from a ricocheted bullet or getting her clumsy ass off the path of an incoming train. At the back of her mind, she knows it’s something she should put a stop to, but more often than not Chloe gets that look in her eye and Max can’t help but grin and laugh and giggle at all the stuff the girl comes up with. She refuses and protests, but when Chloe drags her along she doesn’t even try resisting. Maybe it’s guilt, trying to make it up to her. Either way, learning to say no is something she really needed to work on, no matter how much she enjoyed every second they spent together. Even though it _was_ her time with Chloe that helped get her mind off of... _Oh, right... that._

One single thought was enough for the positive energy she was bursting with to start abating, but she was exhausted and hopefully, by the time she woke up, not even the memories of a certain bitchy blonde will be able to dampen her spirits. She entered her room switched the light on, barely even starting to get ready for bed when she heard a knock at the door. _Oh, you have to be kidding me..._

No sooner had she swung the door open than did Victoria push her inside with her body as much as she did with the kiss. Victoria blindly reached behind her to shut the door without breaking contact and for a fleeting moment Max relished the feeling of those lips upon hers. But then the memory of today came flooding back and she shoved the blonde away.

“Get off me Victoria!”

The blonde glared in confusion and no small amount of indignation. “What the hell is your problem, Caulfield?!”

“MY problem?! Are you serious?! What do you think you’re doing? You treat me like shit one moment and shove your tongue in my mouth the next.”

“Oh, give me a break, that wasn’t even--”

“What, Victoria? Not the best you could come up with?”

“N-no, I just...”

Max waited, but Victoria seemed in two minds on what she was actually trying to say.

“Look, Victoria...” the brunette tried in a calmer voice, “What is this? What are we doing? Do you even like me? Because from where I’m standing it look like all of this gets you off because you hate me.”

“What? No, that’s... I...” But she couldn’t find it in herself to say anything further. Max waited, she’d wait as long Tori needed for her to say something, _anything_ that might help her make sense of the situation. Instead... “You know what? Forget it,” Victoria said as she reached for the door. “Just fucking forget it. I was  an idiot to even...” she trailed off, as she went to her room and slammed the door shut.

_God damn it, Victoria... I don’t know what’s going on with you, but against my better judgment I will find out._

*

 

She called it “echolocation.” Which was completely nonsensical since it had nothing to do with the regular use of the word. But as Max’s powers developed and grew, she slowly became aware that sometimes time manipulation leaves a trace behind – one that only she seems capable of seeing. It started off as vague blurs that disappeared in mere moments, to then increase in duration and finally, actual _motion._

It was bizarre, a bit like watching ghosts or specters. Only these ghosts, or ”echoes”, she could control – to an extent. It only amounted to rewinding and fastforwarding but with sufficient practice, Max was able to glimpse at past events.

She didn’t feel comfortable using her powers in this instance, as going to Tori’s room and watching the girl’s echo retracing steps was not only strange but felt like an invasion of privacy. Still, that didn’t stop her. She sat leaning on the wall next to her bed for two hours before the sound of Victoria’s door reached her. The lock soon followed and after checking the window and seeing the blonde go through the courtyard, Max went to room 221.

A mere glance aside to check for possible danger, and then she focused on the lock, rewinding its state to where it was a minute ago. A telltale click and she was inside.

She cast a cursory glance around, checked Tori’s laptop and went through some of her stuff. It came as no surprise that there was nothing there to quench the brunette’s curiosity. So she focused her mind, reached out with her hand (which was unnecessary, but she though it looked cool) and rewinded.

It was a different feeling, rewinding actual events and rewinding echoes. But that gentle tingle down her spine told her she was doing it. And soon enough, she watched Victoria’s echo going backwards, zipping around the room with blinding speed, from her laptop to her closet, the bed, the camera... No moment of use was made apparent until another echo appeared, this one belonging to Courtney. It seemed as a good of a place to start as any, so she began slowing everything down, until she watched Victoria and her friend move in real-time speed.

Victoria was on her bed, head leaning against the wall and her eyes closed while Courtney was on the floor, going through the pages of a magazine. With nothing else going on for a while, Max fastforwarded.

Each following scenes brought only incremental changes.

Courtney doing her fingernails, fastforward.

Victoria running her fingers through her hair like she has a headache, fastforward.

Two of them talking.

Victoria staring at Courtney like the brunette just fell out of the sky.

Tori shaking her head with a despondent smile.

Courtney laying her hand on the blonde’s thigh in a... weirdly intimate fashion.

Courtney going down on Victor--

“Oh, god!”

Max’s eyes darted away of their own accord the second she realized what she was looking at. That feeling of intruding on something private returned tenfold and for a couple of minutes she just stared away from the awkward scene, grateful no sounds could be heard. And then slowly discomfort gave way to curiosity and despite knowing it was wrong, Max glanced at the scene unfolding beside her.

It came as no surprise to Max that Courtney was pleasuring the blonde in an almost reverential manner – like the very thought of it was a privilege. But she certainly wouldn’t have expected to see Victoria lying there not with a look of ecstasy upon her face but one of uncertainty and almost... worry? She couldn’t make sense of it, for even as the blonde was clearly becoming affected by the erotic act, she did little to show it. Even as she was slowly brought to a climax – evidenced only by her quickened breathing – it was in a wholly reserved manner. Gone was that goofy smile that Max was used to seeing after subjecting the girl to her skills. Victoria rode out her orgasm, such as it was, and Courtney and her separated in an awkwardness Max could sense even now. The brunette seemed to mutter something,  but the blonde didn’t seem keen on talking. Soon Victoria rearranged her clothes, and after a minute or so Courtney headed for the door. She paused to say something but quickly changed her mind and left.

The second she was out of the room Victoria slumped to the floor, her face buried in her hands. She stayed like that for a time but when she finally rose back up, Max was sure – even though with an echo it was hard to tell – that the girl’s eyes had teared up. And when she promptly kicked the side of her desk in fury and shouted something that looked a lot like “fuck”, there was little room for doubt. Max watched Tori for a few more minutes until a sound from the corridor caught her attention and she rushed to leave.  A sense of panic flooded her as she stepped out into the corridor, but luckily, it had only been someone’s door slamming shut. And as she entered her own room and sat on the bed, only one thing was on her mind:

_What... the... hell... was that?_

 


	2. Chapter 2

Almost two weeks had passed since Max and Victoria last spoke and things between them showed no sign of improvement. Moreover, the blonde seemed to go out of her way to avoid Max, as much as their classes together would allow. That time would always pass by uneventfully, but the second it was over Victoria would vanish with a speed that made it seem she might have some superpowers of her own. So it came as a bit of a surprise when Mr. Jefferson put a stop to this worrying trend. He had spent the last half hour giving the students feedback on their submission until, instead of doing the same with Victoria, he said he’d like a word with her after class.

Upon hearing that, Max intentionally spilt the contents of her bag so as to give herself an excuse to remain behind. Jefferson’s voice was barely audible from where she was standing, but as she kept up the pretence of picking up her stuff, a few words reached her ear.

“... even sure what this is supposed to be. I know y... truly astounding. But this... far below your usual... The subject is completely out of focus... even the lighting seems woefully... that you know this. Now I’m not sure if there’s anything... you need to sort it out. I’d hate to see you waste your... and the talent that you clearly have.”

Suddenly Max couldn’t get out of the classroom fast enough. She grew more and more uncomfortable with each passing moment and as soon as she got everything she headed for the exit. And then just before she left, unwittingly, stupidly, she glanced at the other girl. Victoria watcher her with a kind of tired sadness that made Max immediately look away. Seething guilt shot through the brunette as she walked down the corridor, all faces around her a blur as the one she wished she didn’t see remained vivid inside her mind.

How did it come to this? And what was _this_ anyway? Outside of the sex they had everything between them was so damn confusing. Surely the Victoria wouldn’t be so affected by what had happened; there’s no way she would let her work suffer because _she’s in lov--_

Max shook her head in disbelief at the stupid, intrusive thought. No, Victoria Chase doesn’t do love or crushes or anything of the sort. It’s all snippy comments and clever taunts, a barely noticeable step up from the unabashed hatred she exhibited before. But then the night falls and she shows up at Max’s doorstep and she’s _different_ somehow, and no amount of pleasure and ecstasy made Max forget those brief moments where the blonde doesn’t look away and put up walls or hide behind masks... the only time when there’s anything resembling honesty, even if unspoken, before it’s once again – half-finished excuses and indignation and confusion.

_Damn it..._

To a greater or lesser extent, Max knew this was her fault. But after all the times she’d tried rectifying it and failing abysmally, she wanted to believe that for better or worse the ball was in Victoria’s court. Even so, a single word or even a glance from the infuriatingly reticent blonde and she’d _try,_ again and again, for as long as it took. Because though this whole mess had started on a purely physical level, somewhere down the line Victoria had gotten under her skin – or vice versa – maybe even both, and now Max spent an inordinate amount of time having the most bizarre fantasy of all – Victoria, just talking to her.

 _You’re pathetic, Caulfield,_ she thought to herself as she returned to her room and slumped against the door. _Gifted with the most amazing superpowers and here you are, acting like a love-sick puppy wallowing in guilt._ It’s over, whatever it was, and every day the Victoria stayed out of her way made that abundantly clear.

 

*

 

Max wasn’t really sleeping, but the sound of her cell phone jerked her wide awake. This time not even a message from Chloe managed to lure a smile from her and the prospect of hanging out with the blunette didn’t raise her spirits either.

“ _Can’t_ **,** ” she texted back. _Too busy feeling like shit._

She grabbed the camera that lay on her nightstand, pointed it towards herself and took a shot. _Yeah, I should submit this. I’ll call it ‘Complete and utter misery with a wide-angle lens.’_ She put the thing aside and not being in the mood to even get up, let alone do anything productive, she kept staring at the ceiling. The room slowly grew darker and it was only when everything was pitch-black did Max remember. _This was usually the time._

She had learned to recognize it – two weaker knocks followed by a louder one – and Victoria would either be standing in front with a look of trepidation, or not even bothering with any pretence as she shoved Max inside with a kiss. _Stop... smiling... you idiot!_

She couldn’t. That one image of Victoria standing at her doorstep and glancing around in fear like she was there to sell state secrets was enough for the brunette to start grinning. Why wasn’t it that simple? Why couldn’t it be just about the two of them and every other consideration be damned? Instead, the blonde kept evading her and Max was here, thinking about what-ifs. Even now, for a split second she could’ve sworn she heard the faint sound at the door, before kicking herself for even considering the possibility.

_Some time-wielding superhero you are, Max. It was almost be funny if it weren’t so s--_

The knock came louder this time.

For a fleeting moment Max lay completely frozen and she then clumsily rushed to the door which only resulted in her slipping on a sock and smacking face-first into the door.

 _Ow, damn it!_ She rubbed her face and hoped she wouldn’t be greeting her visitor with a bloody nose. Of course she only cared about one particular visitor and to both her shock and delight, she opened the door to find her standing there.

Unlike any other time, Victoria was at her door with a look of quiet determination, thought still with a hint of that sadness from earlier today. She didn’t shove Max inside, she didn’t have anything to give her – she just stood there for a few seconds before the last words Max would ever expect to hear slipped from her lips.

“I’m sorry.”

A dozen different responses flew through the brunette’s head  – including her own apology – but before she could even utter a word Victoria turned and headed back to her room. Whatever prompted the girl to do this was left hanging in the air. Just as she was about to close the door Max realized that this may be the signal she was waiting for.

“Hey, Victoria? Do you, um... do you wanna come in?”

With a look of uncertainty and, unless Max was mistaken, the faintest hint of a smile, Victoria paused at her entrance. Whatever was going through her mind was something Max would’ve loved to have insight into, but she was still happy to see the blonde hesitate for only a moment before taking her up on the invitation.

A minute later Max was perched on her bed while her visitor took the desk chair. The blonde looked around the room as Max cast occasional glances at her. Little by little, the silence grew more deafening since neither girl could think of anything to say. It got so weird there was nothing to be done other than address the elephant in the room.

“Well,” Max jokingly attempted, “at least this isn’t awkward or anything.”

Victoria huffed a brief laugh, only to quickly revert to an uncharacteristically diffident expression. It wasn’t something Max was seeing for the first time, though it was far more noticeable when there was nothing to hide behind, which in their interactions was usually sex. Now amidst this awkward silence the brunette wished she could do something to put the other girl at ease, ideally with something other than sticking her tongue in her mouth.

But it was in fact Victoria who spoke next. She was looking at the photos on the wall behind Max and much to her surprise the blonde seemed impressed.

“Wow, those are actually pretty good...”

_Whoa, that almost sounded like a complime--_

“... for a hipster, that is.”

 _There we go,_ Max thought, smiling from the realization that for the first time since they've known each other the word was neither meant nor taken as an insult. And sure enough Victoria was likewise smirking in teasing manner, apparently at least _a bit_ more comfortable with being there.

“So what was that whole Jeffers--?” _No you idiot, she probably doesn’t want to talk about that!_ Victoria, however, didn’t seem upset.

“Oh, yeah, I... didn’t really submit my best work to be honest. It’s not a big deal though, there’s still time before the deadline. Used the ‘a lot on my mind’ line, which isn’t total bs either... It’ll be fine, I think.”

“Oh, ok... well, look,” Max ventured, “I probably wouldn’t be the first person you’d turn to, but if there’s anything you want to talk about...”

Victoria gave her a cursory glance as if judging whether Max is somebody she ought to confide in. “There was something...”, she trailed off. For a moment she looked ready to tell the brunette what was on her mind but then she shook her head and waved it off. “Never mind, it... it doesn’t matter.”

“Oh come on, Victoria. If you can’t talk to your lifelong best friend and confidante Max Caulfield, who _can_ you talk to?”

The blonde grinned at the humorous sarcasm, still in two minds on whether she should share this. Several minutes passed in complete silence, with Max unwilling to prod further and Victoria as indecisive as ever. Then she finally spoke her mind. “You know that day when you... when we...”

_Oh. **That** day. _

“I guess you know this, but I’ve always thought of you as...” she paused, clearly not wanting to actually voice whatever insulting thing had come to mind. And that small consideration meant so much to Max that any past grievances faded in comparison. “But you’re not. You’re different.”

“And you only needed to stop foaming at the mouth to realize that,” Max quipped with a disarming smirk. Victoria’s mouth instantly opened, likely for some clever retort, before she realized the truth of what was said and gave up on a comeback.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I always thought of you a certain way and now, when I’m talking to you, you’re not like that. But _then_ it was... like you were a completely different person. What the hell came over you?”

 _Well you did,_ Max thought to herself, but knew better than to keep up with the witty comments while Victoria grew more serious by the second. So fully expecting to do a little rewind in a few minutes, she opted for a confession instead.

“You really wanna know?” Max asked, to which the blonde immediately nodded. “Okay. Victoria...” she began solemnly, “this will be difficult to believe but I have superpowers. I can actually control time. And the reason I acted the way I did was because I fully expected, after it was all over, to revert time and go on as though nothing had happened. Only then I got carried away, I went beyond the limit of what I can do and... yeah. I couldn’t take it back. That’s... that’s what it was.”

The blonde glared at her with a blank expression. “Superpowers?”

“Uh, yeah. I know, I know. It’s a bit...” Before Max could finish, Victoria rose to her feet and sat right next to her on the bed. She put her hand on Max’s shoulder and looked at her with a worry of a doctor talking to a terminal patient.

“Max, up until now I was fully convinced you couldn’t possibly be a bigger dork, but you’re reaching levels that could be life threatening.”

“Wh-- Victoria, I’m serious, I...” she attempted, trying to keep on a straight face even though the blonde’s playful behavior made that impossible.

“What we need to do,” Victoria insisted louder, “is get you some help.”

“What, something like ‘Dorks Anonymous’?”

“I think that would be for the best.”

They gazed at each other for a few moments, each girl with a smile on her face. And then Victoria realized where her hand was and she immediately withdrew it almost apologetically. Only rather than going back to where she was, she leaned on the photo wall and remained next to Max.

They stayed like that for a while, lying on the bed in complete silence. No sooner did the brunette start thinking how nice that was than did Victoria throw a light punch at her arm, not nearly enough to cause pain, but Max still feigned injury with with indignation.

“Ow, what the hell was that for?”

“For being an asshole,” Victoria shot back, but also with a tiny smile.

“What did _I_ do?”

“You pulled a Ben Franklin on me, that’s what you did.”

Max stared in confusion. “I what?”

“Pulled a Ben... Ugh, for the love of... You know how people say when somebody doesn’t like you just ask if you can borrow their pen? So because of that they’ll _start_ liking you?”

“Uh, okay...?”

“Well that’s called the ‘Ben Franklin effect’.”

“And... you think the whole shower thing was kind of like me borrowing--”

“Yeees?” Victoria confirmed impatiently.

“That... is making a stupid amount of sense right now.”

“Of course it is,” the blonde smirked like she’d just come up with the theory of relativity.

“Well damn, they’ll have to change all the articles on this,” Max joked. “‘Know someone who doesn’t like you? Just go at it in the shower,’” she went on, struggling as much as Victoria was to keep herself from laughing. “’Make friends for life - one orgasm at a time.’” They both burst into a fit of giggles, eyes tearing up from all the laughter. When at length they did calm down Victoria sounded a bit more serious.

“Look Max, I’m sorry for all the--”

“Zip it, Chase,” the brunette interrupted amiably. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Victoria only smiled in response.

 

*

 

It was well past midnight, but it being Friday meant neither girl gave tomorrow any thought. After the initial awkwardness their conversation flew as if they’ve been friends forever. They went from one topic to another, waxing lyrically on everything they agreed on and quickly moving on when they did not. It was like a tacit agreement that they’ve already spent too much time in a state of animosity to now linger on anything other than the most pleasant of topics. Throughout it all, Max couldn’t help noticing that the other girl subtly veered away from all things Courtney-related. And though she was dying to ask a few questions along those lines, she knew now was not the time.

At some point they started talking about galleries, and it was there that the topic of Victoria’s parents arose.

“... and their precious little gallery. You’d think they’d lay off now that I’m actually here but I swear to god, not a day goes by without one of them calling me and asking for a damn status report.”

“They just want what’s best for you.”

“Yeah, I know, it's just... all this pressure all the fucking time. A GPA of 3.9 is not enough for them, noooo. If I don’t grow up to be the next US president they’ll probably disown me. And they’re overprotective too, especially my father. ‘You’re there to study, young lady. So no boys!’ Ugh. Give me a break.”

“So... they don’t know?” Max inquired cautiously.

“Know what?”

“You know, that... you’re gay.”

“Hey, I am NOT--” the blonde shot back with a sliver of anger before one look at Max’s face put a stop to her outburst. “I’m... not _into girls,_ okay?” she resumed more calmly. “It’s just you.”

Max looked at her, with equal parts compassion and worry. Any other time the open confession would’ve made her smile but Victoria’s tone of voice was nothing if not disheartening.

“I’m sorry,” the blonde went on quietly. “My parents aren’t exactly supportive of... alternative lifestyles. And fuck, I spent so much time around them that I sort of... went along with it I guess. I never even considered that one day I would... Jesus...You know, you go through life focused on certain things and one day you wake up and you have certain friends and you have parents that have these expectations and _you_ are a certain way, but then you look at yourself in the mirror and you’re not sure you like what you see. God, I can’t even imagine how I’d go about telling...”

Max knew what she was talking about. Courtney likely wouldn’t be a problem. Nathan though, maybe even Taylor... and those are just friends Max knew about. Being the queen bee of Blackwell, as silly as it seemed to the brunette still meant a lot to Victoria. Losing friends over this... it would be nice to think she was worth it but Max knew it was naive to expect Victoria to take such a risk, especially since at the very least her parents would cut her off – and that would be the best case scenario.

“If they’re really your friends, Victoria, they’ll accept you for whatever you are.”

“Yeah right,” the blonde scoffed. “I mean how can they – I don’t even know who I am. Just look at us, one day I hate you and the next...”

“You’re wondering when I’ll be going for a shower?”

Victoria rolled her eyes with an abashed grin. “You are such an asshole.”

But Max’s goal was already achieved – the blonde’s mood was instantly improved. “Don’t worry, it will all work out.”

“Suuuure. Because of your superpowers, right?”

“No, no, don’t be silly. Because of my irresistible charm. Soon you’ll be taking me to have dinner with your parents. I’ll charm their pants off, I tell y’a.”

“You’re insane. My father would lose his shit. It would be all over the news: ‘Parent brutally murders only child.’ Jesus, if he found out that I... that we...”

“That we conjugate Latin verbs together?” Max teased whit a wiggle of her eyebrows and Victoria couldn’t help grinning unwittingly.

“Is that what you call it?”

“Sure. It’s my go-to excuse if your parents catch us doing stuff. ‘Mrs. Chase, I know this looks strange, us being naked and all, but...’”

“Wh-- Max!”

“’... it’s a studying method called _positive reinforcement_. Whenever I get an answer right, Tori loses an article of clothing and vice-versa. As you can see we’re both excellent students.’”

Face buried in hands, Victoria’s grin grew wider with every word and her blush all the more visible. “My god, the stuff you come up with...”

“Oh, I’ve got others too.”

“I don’t want to know!”

“’Don’t be silly Mrs. Chase, this isn’t your daughter on my lips, it’s lip gloss!’”

“Aaaaah! I’m not listening!” Yet every subsequent comment made the blonde laugh more. Max kept at it, and it took them a full fifteen minutes for Victoria to calm down and for her to run of witty things to say. It was at that moment that Victoria noticed something by the side of the bed and reached for it. “Well, well, what have we here. Max Caulfield’s diary.”

“Oh, god! Victoria, don’t!” Max exclaimed and lunged for the booklet, but the other girl easily held her at bay with one hand as she went through the diary with the other.

“Hm, ‘Mom and dad’... “homework kicking my ass”... Ooh, here’s one that’s about little old...” she trailed off as she read the entry before Max snatched the thing away.

“It’s just something I put down occasionally, boring stuff mostly.”

“It didn’t look boring to me,” Victoria returned with an indecipherable expression.

“Wh-what did you read?”

“Something about you thinking I’m beautiful. That true?” the blonde asked softly, her voice bearing the faintest undertone of  trepidation.

“Eh,” Max shot back, opting for a little petty vengeance for having her diary read. “I’ve seen better.” But Victoria wasn’t fooled. She jumped at the brunette and started lightly swatting her as they stumbled onto the mattress with Victoria right on top of her.

“You... lying.... little... shit,” she demanded with a indignant smile. “I want the truth.”

Max put up a pretend defense, seemingly trying to free herself before the blonde grabbed both her hands and pinned them above her head. They stared at each other with quickened breaths, until Max broke the silence. “I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

“Well,” Victoria breathed out, “I guess I can’t blame you for that.”

“No... and you can’t blame me for this either.” Catching the blonde off guard, Max swapped their positions with one deft maneuver until she was the one looking down at Victoria.

“What do you think you’re doing, hipster?” she asked with narrowed eyes, but made no move to free herself.

“Straddling you,” Max stated matter-of-factly.

“Leaning close to you.”

Their faces now no more than an inch apart.

“Kissing you.”

_Oh._

It started with a delicate brushing of lips. For the most part Max remained just out of reach, teasing with her closeness and warmth of her breath to only intermittently close the distance between them. It was a slow, sensuous tug-of-war, wherein Victoria would surge forward eager for more only to find Max teasingly withdrawing. Unlike previous times, there was no urgency between them, yet little by little, the brunette began to sense sliver of frustration in her lover, and pressed her lips more firmly to that of the other girl’s. Brief, lascivious licks soon followed, Max tracing the length of Victoria’s lips in a subdued yet erotic exploration. Every once in a while she’d playfully nip at the blonde’s lower lip, eliciting what could equally have been a stilted a laugh or a half-suppressed moan.

Gradually Max began to probe deeper, licking into the blonde’s mouth with ever-increasing hunger. Sensing the slow undulations of Victoria’s hips, she pushed her thigh between the girl’s legs, though ironically the merciful move only frustrated her lover further. The knee-length burgundy skirt Victoria wore soon gave way to the friction between them and slowly slid upwards until there was nothing between her sex and Max’s thigh but the thin fabric of her panties. The slick trail had barely become evident on the brunette’s skin when she pulled away from the kiss and with a smug smirk watched Victoria grind herself before the blonde opened her eyes and glanced at her in confusion. Within an instant, that expression on Max’s face made it clear this was yet another form of teasing. Her hips ceased their motion as without their lips joined it was getting embarrassingly weird.

“Max... are you kidding me right now?” Her frustrated glare was getting more indignant by the second, yet Max only kept smiling.

“Problem?” the brunette chirped with insouciance.

“Yes, there’s a fucking problem, I... you...” she began, only to realize that Max was getting a kick out of watching her fumbling attempts at voicing her desires. She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips to stop herself from grinning, completely aware that even that was feeding into the enjoyment other girl was getting out of this. “You are such a...”

“Is there something you want to tell me, Tori?” Max interrupted huskily, and accentuated the last word with a brief lick on the blonde’s neck, on that very spot that made her completely fall apart.  Victoria drew a sharp breath, only to feel an equally brief press of Max’s thigh on her sex. “Is there something you want.... something you _need?_ ”

The blonde bit her bottom lip in delicious frustration, as it became apparent there was only way out of this. “Yes, god damn it, I need... I...”

“Hm?” Max watched bemused, one eyebrow arched inquisitively.

“I need you to _fuck me_ ,” the blonde managed, and did her best to ignore the light blush she felt spread on her cheeks.

Max smiled at the confession, but she wasn’t done yet, not by a long shot. “Hmmmm, I dunno, Tori... you seem awfully convinced earlier. ‘Not gay,’ remember?”

“I’m _not_ ,” the blonde almost growled in frustration.

“You sure about that?” With a deft move Max replaced the thigh with her hand, fingers now pressing against the flimsy fabric covering Victoria’s pussy to glide slowly down the length of it.

An ill-repressed moan slipped from the blonde’s lips, and she somehow managed to word her response. “Maybe... maybe just a little.”

 _Heh_ , _thought so_. “Anything else you’d like to confess?” Max inquired in sync with yet another brush of her fingers.

“Wh-what?”

“Do you... think about me?”

Victoria glared in confusion for only a second before the nature of Max’s game dawned on her. “Yes, I... I do.” Another lick along her neck – a clear reward for playing along.

“When you’re _alone_?”

“Wha-- Oh! I... yes, oh god, yes,” the blonde moaned and pressed against the infuriatingly slow-moving fingers.

“Tell me.”

Victoria’s eyes shot wide open. That was it, there was no way she is going to do _that_. But then the other girl ceased all motion and moved her lips away to watch and wait expectantly.

 “I... we’re alone,” the blonde relented.

“Uh-huh?” Max demanded as she resumed her ministrations.

“We’re in a... th-the classroom. The class starts soon and... oh, god... you’re inside me...”

“Like this?” Fingers traced the line of her panties and only barely begun to dip inside.

“Yes... oh, yes... just like that.”

“And?”

“We’ll get caught, but... you don’t stop and... god, it feels so...”

“Is that all?” Max ventured, though she knew full well the blonde was not quite near the edge yet.

“N-no... more. Please, more.”

“Well then?”

“I... we’re in a clothes store – the dressing room. The woman... she asking what’s taking us so long. You’re on your knees, your tongue is on my... oh, godfuck yes, yesssss...” she hissed at the intrusion of a single digit in her core. “She’s knocking, and you don’t stop... oh please don’t stop. God, it’s too much. I’ll scream... she’ll hear us.”

“Let her...”

“N-no, Max... please, oh, oh!” With three strong jerks of her body Victoria came against the invading fingers. Her nascent moan was stifled as Max claimed her lips with her own. Wetness pooled around Max’s moving digits as the blonde rode out her orgasm, each motion expelling more of the precious liquid. With feeble whimpers she gradually calmed down, their lips still joined together and Max still inside her. When at length they pulled apart, Max was careful to maintain eye contact as she slowly withdrew from the tender flesh. She absolutely adored that light blush and look of embarrassment on Victoria’s face, the nature of what they just did made all the more evident when there was no all-consuming ecstasy to obscure it.

With a sudden gust of inspiration, Max brought the sodden fingers to her lips. Before the bemused face of her lover, she proceeded to lick them clean one by one. Victoria watched in amused fascination, relishing every second of the lascivious act.

“You... are _such_ a pervert,” she whispered with a smile.

“I can’t help it blondy,” Max retorted before leaning down to whisper hotly in her ear. “You just taste   _s o  g o o d._ ”

When she pulled back she wasn’t surprised to find the other girl blushing fifty different shades of red. And instead of a clever comeback Max half-expected, Victoria uttered a nigh-inaudible plea.

“Could, um... could you turn off the light?”

“Yeah, no... I don’t think so.”

“Wh-why not?”

“I want to see that news report tomorrow,” Max explained “’Victoria Chase, died of excessive blushing’.”

“Asshole,” the blonde mouthed, and pulled Max down for another kiss.

_Joke’s on you, Max. You can’t see me blush if we don’t stop kissing._

 

*

 

To anyone who might pay attention, not much would seem different between Max Caulfield and Victoria Chase. Be it in class or outside of it, they largely ignored each other and stuck to their respective social circles. The only notable change was that Victoria abstained from her usual insults and snarky comments. A more discerning look however, would paint an entirely different picture.

Every now and then, when they ran into each other inside Blackwell, in the dorm or outdoors, a single glance unnoticed by anyone else would pass between the two, eliciting a smile from Max and an imperceptible pursing of lips from Victoria as the girl tried not to react the same way. At times they would pass each other and Max would brush her fingers against the side of the blonde’s dress or the back of her hand, as she tried not to look too content when Victoria briefly shoots her the “I’m going to kill you” look mixed with an undeniable sliver of amusement.

But the second they returned to either of their rooms it was all lips clashing together, quickened heartbeats and disheveled clothing. It didn’t matter to Max if they were just hanging out, making out or “conjugating Latin verbs”, yet more often than not, Victoria would pin her against the wall as soon as they were alone and Max really didn’t feel like objecting.

The problem was that, as time went on, she grew increasingly aware of Victoria’s insistence to keep everything between them a secret. It didn’t seem like a big deal in the beginning, yet week after week, it started to bug Max more than she’d care to admit. A part of her thought she should be happy they were in any kind of relationship at all. On the other hand, she didn’t really care for the prospect of sneaking around forever. Surely at some point Victoria would want for this to progress somewhere further, or at least Max liked to hope so. Either way, she decided against pushing the other girl. Maybe at some point she’d broach the subject, but on this particular day, the problem did not weigh heavily on her mind.

The two of them were in Victoria’s room, which only happened when the blonde was sure there was no imminent danger of discovery. Max sat on the floor and watched her polish her toenails. Victoria had approached the task as if her entire future depended on it, meticulously and precisely applying the burgundy color. The brunette observed for a little while, before a sudden burst of mischievousness made her nudge Victoria’s hand and caused the girl to paint flat across the whole foot.

Victoria huffed and glared in irritation, as Max grinned and waited for her to resume the work. She had barely begun when Max nudged her again, this time eliciting a smile of pure resignation from her.

“Stop it, Max!”

But the demand was only met with a wider, more mischievous grin. She faked resuming the polishing for a split second to see if the other girl would try something once more, and only did proceeded when she felt it safe to do so.

“You know, the world won’t stop turning if you appear in public looking anything less than perfect.”

“Pff, of course a hipster would say that.”

“Where are you going, anyway?”

“There’s a... a party tonight.” The undertone of trepidation did not go unnoticed by Max, but if she was right, there was no need for it. In all likelihood the party would be... “A Vortex club thing.”

_Of course it is._

“Ugh, the Vortex club,” Max responded, trying to dispel any notion that she’d also like to come. “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

Victoria glanced at her mildly puzzled.

“Uh, wretched hive of... hello? Star Wars??” Max tried, as the full nature of this outrageous transgression slowly dawned on her. “Victoria... you _have_ seen Star Wars, right?”

“Oh... yeah, I don’t really watch hipster movies.”

“Hipster?! Victoria Chase...” Max intoned with disappointment and disgust. “What kind of a person _are you_?!”

“I think I’m pretty much like you,” Victoria quipped, “only popular and talented.”

Max couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Bitch.”

“Ho,” the blonde returned.

“Slut.”

“... hipster!”

“I may be a hipster, but at least I’m not crushing on one.”

“Hey, I am NOT crushing on you!” Victoria insisted, even as a faint smile on her face threatened to prove otherwise. ”You... you’re just good at giving... uhm, doing... things.”

_Things?_

Victoria’s fumbling and blatantly transparent attempts to distance herself from what was happening between them never failed to make smile. Right now, however... something else was on her mind.

“Better than Courtney?”

Victoria went pale. “What did you...? Oh, god... d-did she tell you?”

“What? No, Victoria, of course not. I was just... going to try and talk to you when I, um... heard you through the door.”

The blonde seem to accept the impromptu explanation but wasn’t looking at all relieved. In fact, quite the opposite.

 _Ah, shit,_ Max thought. The last thing she wanted was to upset her.

“Max, I... we weren’t, I mean...”

“Victoria...”

“It wasn’t... you know, it... I just...”

“Vic...”

“I know how it must...”

“TORI!” Max bellowed and put a stop to the other girl’s rambling. She reached out and put her hand on her shoulder. “Calm down. It’s fine.”

“Fine? It’s nothing fucking fine! I...”

“Stop it. I’m not upset.” _I’m not sure I have any right to be._ _Not after the way the two of us started._ “I was just... you know – curious.”

Victoria looked at her, half distraught and half suspicious, gauging the truthfulness of what was said. But much to her own surprise, Max really didn’t feel jealous or angry. She couldn’t tell if it was the blonde’s reaction after the deed or something else entirely, yet right now she was merely curious how everything she witnessed through the echoes happened at all.

Victoria slinked to the side of the bed and Max sat next to her.

“So how _did_ the two of you...?”

“God, I don’t even fucking know,” Victoria said with exasperation. “We were just... sitting here. I was complaining about stress, had a headache... And... she says something like ‘Oh, you know what’s the best way of relieving stress?’ And before I even caught her drift she tells me how Nathan probably wouldn’t mind helping me out. She actually thought the two of us were... ugh. So when I told her we weren’t, she looked at me... kind of funny. And then she just _says it._ And I laugh, I fucking laugh, because of course she’s kidding – she has to be. And maybe at first she was. But then the joke is over and she’s saying how it would be no big deal, how it’s just ‘helping out a friend’, and _I know,_ I fucking know how wrong and stupid it would be, but all I could think about was... if we did it, and it was _the same_... then I would know it was just the sex and it wasn’t about _you_ and then I could fucking deal with it. God...’” she trailed off and buried her face in her hands. “What the fuck was I thinking?”

“So why do you think she...?”

“Fuck, Max... I don’t... I don’t know. She was so sweet and gentle... and I was being fucking weird. Jesus, I practically kicked her out afterwards. And since then we haven’t even... it’s still weird between us,” she concluded with a despondent head shake.

“Well, I mean... I don’t know her that well, but I often thought your friendship was a bit... one-sided,” Max said cautiously.

“Gee, thanks.”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that, Victoria. It’s just that... I always felt she’s a bit obsessed with you, like she really, really wants to please you. And... I dunno, I guess maybe she took that too far.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Victoria agreed, this time with a forced smile.

“Do you care about her though? I mean, as a friend?”

“What the hell, of course I do! I may be a bitch, but I’m not a piece of shit.”

“You’re not a bitch, Vict--,” Max attempted, only for one look from the other girl to put a stop to it. “Ok, you can be _a little_ bitchy, sometimes. Are you sure she knows though, that you... value your friendship?”

 “I... yeah, I’m sure she does.” Victoria didn’t sound convinced thought.

“Well, have you ever thought about showing her that?”

“What do you mea-- Oh, oh no! I am _not_ going down on--”

“Jesus, no, Victoria! What the hell?! I meant like, buying her something nice, a pendant or something.”

“Oh... but... no, Max. We don’t have that kind of a relationship. And what if she, you know... misinterprets it?”

“As long as you don’t buy her a ring and get down on one knee, I think you’re good,” Max reassured her. “And just to be safe, you can downplay it, like – your mother bought it for you, but it’s not really your style.”

“I guess that’s not worst idea I’ve ever heard,” Victoria said. “I’ll think about it. Right now, though, I have to go take a shower.” With a quick glance at the other girl, she picked up her stuff and went outside.

Max went to her own room, not at all feeling the same as she was when the conversation started. In fact, it felt weirdly pleasing to hash out unresolved matters between them. Too bad Victoria had to go showe--

_Oh! Ooooooooooohhhhhhhh!_

 

*

 

The gentle stream of water cascaded down Victoria’s body. It was as if soothing warmth was washing away all negative thoughts that had been gnawing at her. She was just starting to think how she might forgo the party and instead stay here the entire day, when the curtain behind her slid open.

“What the...! Max?!”

The brunette had snuck into the cubicle and pulled the curtain back. She was smiling suggestively, but the other girl didn’t seem amused.

“ _What..._ the hell are you doing?!” Victoria demanded in a low tone of voice.

“What do you mean? You gave me the look.”

“What? What look?!”

“The ‘I’m going for a shower’ look.”

“Oh my fucking... There’s no such thing as a--”

The door opened.

The sounds of footsteps echoed in the bathroom, and Victoria’s eyes immediately widened in panic. She looked at the curtain in sheer horror, as if the person outside might pull it open. Max, on the other hand, was trying hard not to start laughing.

“Vic, you in there?”

 _Oh, shit.._ Taylor.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Hey, we’re still going to that party tonight, right?”

“Uh-huh, yeah.”

A few seconds of silence made it seem that would be that, but then...

“Whose clothes are these?”

Never before in her life was Max so grateful that looks couldn’t kill. Victoria shot daggers at her, hands twitching like she might reach out and strangle the brunette any second.

“I don’t know, I guess somebody forgot them.”

“Oh, ok.”

Though the sound of Taylor’s shower soon followed, Victoria knew she wasn’t out of the woods yet. And one look at Max’s mischievous face compounded the notion. She had barely begun considering the risky idea of dashing outside, when she felt a finger glide down the side of her hip. She instantly slapped Max’s hand away, before threateningly pointing a finger at her and mouthing a silent “Stop it.”

That impishly grinning face told her the brunette had no intention of doing that. As soon as her attention was diverted elsewhere, Max would place a quick kiss on her shoulder, feign reaching for her nether region or playfully trying to bite at that threatening digit of the blonde. A part of Victoria cursed the twisted fate that put her in this position, whilst the other had trouble keeping herself from smiling despite the increasingly unbearable nature of the situation.

 _Only this damn hipster,_ Victoria mused inwardly. Only Max could place her in a situation like this and still draw a smile from her. God, she hated her. Or loved. Right now it was difficult to tell.

But while she was thinking of the vengeance she’d be exacting later, Taylor was saying something outside. It took a few seconds for Victoria to snap out of it.

“Uh, sorry, what?”

“I said, can I borrow some shampoo. I’m all out.”

The blonde turned to get it, only to find Max standing there, playfully twirling the bottle in her hands like some unholy demon sent to Earth for the specific purpose of tormenting Victoria Chase. She had barely begun to mouth a silent threat when the brunette ducked under the outstretched arm and stuck her own out through the slit of the curtain to pass the bottle to Taylor.

“Thanks!”

When Max pulled back she wasn’t surprised to find the blonde staring at her in total disbelief. She stayed like that for several minutes at least, until Max experimentally waved a hand in front of her face.

_Nope, not even a blink._

Apparently she had shocked the other girl into speechlessness, motionlessness – for all intents and purposes a catatonic state. And it was only when Max surged to her to place a quick peck on her lips that she stirred.

When the blonde glanced up at her, Max realized there was nothing in this whole world that she enjoyed seeing more than Victoria Chase trying desperately to look pissed off while failing abysmally to keep a smile from her face.

She knew there would be hell to pay later, but right that didn’t seem too relevant. A far important matter was the sudden urge to kiss the other girl again, which, despite the blonde’s token resistance, she immediately indulged.

They made out amidst the heated mist of the water, the knowledge they were one step away from being discovered making the act all the more exhilarating. Somewhere down the line, the sound of the bathroom door opening and Taylor leaving made Victoria push Max away. She could only stand to look at that smug expression for a second before she flipped the brunette to face the wall and pinned her against it.

“You think that was fucking funny?” she growled in her ear.

“Well yeah, it was pretty-AH!”

The slap on Max’s ass cheek came so suddenly she was completely caught off guard.

“Victoria, what--”

“Still... think... it’s... funny?” Victoria demanded, accentuating each word with another swat across the brunette’s behind, ragged breaths being the elicited only response. “What, no clever comebacks?”

“I...” Three more vicious slaps later and what slipped from Max Caulfield’s mouth was not a hissing intake of air or a nascent word of protest but a _moan._ Victoria’s eyes widened in sudden realization.

“Oh my... You little _freak._ You’re getting off on this, aren’t you?”

“Wh... N-no,” Max attempted lamely.

“Really?” Her body pressed against Max, Victoria’s hand slithered across the glistening skin towards her intended goal. She slipped inside her with ease, making both girls aware just how wet the brunette was. “What’s this then?”

“Uh, t-that’s from the water.”

“Sure it is,” Victoria whispered in her ear as her finger slowly went in and out Max’s silky folds. “My, my. Who knew Max Caulfield liked getting _spanked._ ”

“Don’t be ridic-AH!”

“Again with the lying.” With her left hand getting Max off, her mouth placing the gentlest of kisses on her neck and her right palm hovering dangerously close to her ass, Victoria was subjecting the brunette to a cocktail of sensations that was proving positively maddening. “You know... I’m starting to think you like pissing me off because you _want_ to get punished.”

“I... I...”

“Save your breath, Max. You’ll need it to beg me to let you come.”

_Oh, god..._

The hand between her thighs, the lips upon her skin and that throbbing feeling in her ass – it was all too much. Max wasn’t merely losing composure, she was losing her grip on sanity. Pleasure unfurled from her core to every fiber of her being and in what seemed like seconds she voiced her gasping, blissful release. She sank weakly into the blonde’s arms, every forcible spasm of her pussy proving more enervating.

When at length her legs finally felt strong enough to support her, Max turned to face the taller girl.

No smug grin, no hint of anger – fake or otherwise. Just an uncharacteristically tender expression as Victoria reached to stroke the side of her face.

“My lying little hipster... god, how much I hate you,” she added with a joking smile, the actual meaning of that sentiment not escaping Max. The brunette barely begun wording a response when Victoria put a stop to it with yet another kiss.

_Me too, Victoria. Me too._

*

 

Max couldn’t for the life of her understand why anyone would spend the better part of the day getting ready for a party. Apparently, the idea was – if you’re not both fashionable _and_ fashionably late, you might as well not go at all. At least, as far as Victoria was concerned.

She could just imagine the outcry caused by the queen bee of Blackwell showing up in public with a single hair out of place, and sure enough, the blonde was getting ready with every intention of avoiding that criminal act.

When after a time she turned to face Max, there was a sense of awkwardness about her that by now Max was learning to recognize.

“Um... Taylor said she’ll be stopping by to borrow a dress, so... you need to go.”

“Or...” Max attempted half-jokingly, “I could stay.”

Victoria sighed. “Max...”

“What?”

“Could we not do this?”

“Do what, exactly?” What started off as a somewhat playful tone was growing more indignant by the second.

“ _This._ I-I told you... you know what it’s like for me. And you said you wouldn’t...”

“And I’m not, Victoria. But Taylor is your best friend. Surely...”

“Max, please.”

“How long do you plan for us to hide like this?”

“We’re not... I’m... I don’t _know,_ fuck! Why can’t you just...”

“What? Be happy with what I’ve got? To be honest, I thought I was. But if this is the way it’s always going to be, then maybe... maybe we should end this now.”

Victoria couldn’t believe hear ears. “You don’t mean that, Max.”

_I don’t._

“I do.”

Before she had a chance to respond, Max walked out of the room.

“Max, wait.” She followed after her, glancing aside to see Dana at the other end of the hall talking on the phone. She grabbed Max by the arm. “Look, I _want_ to be with you,” she spoke quietly. “And if you want to be with me – and I know you do – this is... this is just something you’re going to have to deal with.”

_Deal with? D e a l  w i t h?!_

Max was just about to yank her hand away and slam the door in her face when she noticed Taylor and Courtney walking towards them.

“You know what, Victoria? Deal with this.” She grabbed the blonde’s head with both her hands and pressed a rough kiss against her lips. Victoria just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, until a second later they broke apart.

Max headed outside before Victoria had a chance to react, vaguely noticing the utter shock on Taylor and Courtney’s faces, as well as the amazement (or was it amusement?) Dana was watching this with. When she left the building, she was surprised to bump into Chloe.

“Hey man, what the fuck? You haven’t been answering any of my texts. I thought we could go--”

“We can,” Max promptly responded and pulled the blunette with her. “Let’s go.”

“Wh-- Are you sure, you don’t even...”

“Doesn’t matter, let’s just go.”

Minutes later they were rushing down the road in Chloe’s truck. Max stuck her head out the window, hoping the wind would somehow obliterate every guilt-ridden thought that was consuming her. She knew it was stupid, maybe the stupidest thing she’s ever done. But the time for a rewind was long gone. No going back now.


	3. Chapter 3

If a few months ago someone had told Max she’d spend the majority of photography class playfully running her hand down Victoria Chase’s thigh she would’ve laughed at the insanity of the idea before running off in the other direction. And yet...

The two girls sat close to each other at the back of the classroom, which gave Max plenty of opportunities to explore delicious new ways of tormenting her girlfriend. This latest method entailed waiting for Victoria to start writing or to be paying close attention to what Jefferson was saying, to then reach under the desk and draw a stifled yelp from the outraged blonde. One angry yet amused glare later, she’d relent for a couple of minutes until another attempt.

For her part, Victoria would’ve liked nothing more than to slap the impish hand away the second it came anywhere near her. But she didn’t dare do anything that might draw the attention of the class, so she could only suffer in silence and fantasize about the vengeance she’d be exacting later.

It was in the middle of one of these fantasies that Max ventured up her thigh a little farther than usual, which immediately startled the blonde into bumping her legs against the desk to then morph her shriek into a cough. A few other students looked the way of the blushing Victoria, but other than that, they were none the wiser as to the goings-on between the two former enemies. Just as Max was getting ready for another attempt, a crumpled piece of paper was flung her way from Victoria’s direction.

“ _I hate you,_ ” the note said and Max wasn’t surprised to see a tiny smirk at the edge of the blonde’s lips. A minute later, another note found itself flying her way.

 _“Coming by later?_ ”

Mondays usual had Max so completely exhausted that sometimes all she could do after classes was crawl to her room and fall dead asleep. However, if some... _incentive_ were to present itself, she’d be willing to change her mind.

“ _Why should I?_ ” Max scribbled back.

One Victoria™ eye roll later, the response came.

“ _I’ll let you go down on me._ ”

The second Max’s glanced over the note she erupted into laughter and everyone turned to see what was going on.

“Max Caulfield!”

“Uh-hm, y-yes Mr. Jefferson?”

“The rest of us are dying do know what you found so hilarious.”

“I-it was nothing, really. I just remembered something.”

“Then you won’t mind handing over that piece of paper.”

She barely even noticed the wide-eyed panic on Victoria’s face before she rolled the paper into a tiny ball and swallowed the thing whole.

The entire class stared in amazement, not being used to seeing Max engaged in anything close to defying authority. Jefferson, however, didn’t seem amused. So a minute later the brunette was on her way for a talk with principal Wells. Not that she was worried. That look of gratitude on Victoria’s face as she was leaving the classroom was well worth the slap on the wrist which was likely in store for her.

As she sat waiting for Wells to be finished with whoever was with him now, Max thought back to that day. The day when she stupidly kissed Victoria in front three other students which could’ve easily meant the end for the two of them.

The night following that dreaded event she intentionally stayed with Chloe as late as she could so as to avoid running into the more-than-likely furious blonde when she went back to the dorm. The plan had worked well enough, granting her one mercifully peaceful night before the shitstorm that was to follow.

First thing the following morning, she was roused from sleep by the frantic staccato of knocks on her door. The second she opened it she was greeted by a slap on the face. Reeling from the shock, Max barely had time to notice the angry glare on Victoria’s face before the blonde spoke.

“You had no right to do that!”

Max just stood there, lost for words. It wasn’t the slap that had her on the verge of tears, it was the fact she did this to someone she cared so deeply for. Apologizing, begging for forgiveness and even asking for another slap because she clearly deserved it – all those idea swarmed inside her mind in those few seconds during which Victoria glared indignantly at her. Yet none of them seemed remotely sufficient. She fucked up bad, there was no denying it. And the fact she couldn’t even imagine how she might try to make amends made everything worse. So she just kept staring at her feet, hoping the ground might open to swallow her and put her out of her misery.

“But I’m glad you did.”

Max glanced up in surprise to see the blonde’s angry glare slowly shift into a smile. The very next second Victoria pulled her into a bone-crunching hug, catching the petite girl off guard yet again.

“Victoria, I...”

“Shut it. I’m still pissed at you,” came the warning growl from Victoria, yet she still didn’t let go. When they finally retreated to Max’s room, Victoria relayed what happened after the kiss. Between thinly veiled threats and promises of vengeance, she told Max of the talk she had with Taylor and Courtney.

What it entailed was Taylor wordlessly staring for hours on end, hoping the punch line would be coming soon. When it did not, she demanded to know what Victoria’s angle was and what she was hoping to get out of using Max. From then it was claims of Max using blackmail, Victoria sustaining head injuries and pretty much any explanation the blonde could latch onto other than Victoria being gay. When all attempts at understanding this latest development failed, she reverted back to silence and it was there that Courtney finally chimed in.

Much to Victoria’s surprise, the brunette seemed thrilled she was dating – or trying to date – Max, and one minute after another she showered her friend with questions of every possible facet of their budding relationship. It turned out that what happened between Courtney and her was born more out of a  desire to see her friend happy than any romantic or even sexual interest. How much that kind of borderline obsessive desire was good for her Max couldn’t really say, but as Victoria went on, she couldn’t help smiling at the honest and unconditional support with which Courtney handled her friend’s confession. In fact, it seemed that it was precisely the brunette’s behavior that finally nudged Taylor towards some semblance of acceptance.

All of that, coupled with the fact that Dana, who also witnessed the kiss, had the good sense to keep what happened to herself (though she still smirked knowledgably whenever she saw Max and Victoria walking together), meant that for the most part Max was in the clear. Of course it went without saying that she’d spent a lot of time making it up to her girlfriend.

For Victoria’s part, quickly brushing aside what had happened seemed the best strategy. More than that, when Max mentioned she owed Chloe some hang out time, the blonde seemed eager to tag along. On the way, they bumped into Taylor and Courtney and before they knew it, the five of them were chilling at the junkyard. Chloe was passing out beer left and right, Victoria barely showed her disbelief at having to hang out at a junkyard of all places and Max was overjoyed that her best friend and her girlfriend were getting along. Courtney was beaming at every interaction between her favorite new couple, to such an extent that Max fully expected the brunette to whip put a bag of popcorn like she was watching a particularly interesting romcom. And the bracelet that hung on her wrist didn’t go unnoticed by Max either.

Taylor on the other hand...

_Oh, boy._

Somewhere deep inside, under fifty different layers of bitchiness and arrogance, Max fully believed the girl was happy for her best friend. But she did have a damn hard time showing it. From averting her gaze whenever Max and Victoria kissed, glancing around in disgust at her surroundings, to brushing off Chloe’s beer offer with unabashed contempt at the blunette’s dress code – Taylor stuck out like a sore thumb in what was otherwise a friendly little gathering. And yet, before the night drew to a close, even she couldn’t resist the friendly atmosphere and at a few points almost seemed on the verge of cracking a smile.

Somehow... everything was working out. And Max didn’t even need superpowers to get there.

 

*

 

As Max was walking Chloe to her truck, she couldn’t help noticing that teasingly smug grin the blunette was casting her way. She tried ignoring it for the most part, but when she turned to look at Chloe that beaming grin on her friend’s face immediately drew one from her as well.

“So... you and _miss Chase_.”

“Yeah,” Max replied and hoped she wasn’t blushing. “It’s sort of just... happened.”

“Really, just happened? Didn’t you two hate each other other’s guts or something?”

“Well, n-no... I mind kind of...”

“And now you’re suddenly doing her.”

“Jesus, Chloe,” Max grinned in resignation. “I’m not _doing her._ ”

_We’re doing each other._

“But we are together.”

“Well, well, well... the honorable knight Maximilian has conquered the heart of the fair maiden Victoria. So...”

“Hm?”

“Hast thou besmirched thine lady’s innocence, my liege?”

“Oh my god!” Max giggled. “Where do you even get that stuff, Chloe?”

“A TV-show. Now answer the damn question.”

“Never you mind about that. My besmirching is my business.”

“Oh, come on Max. You can’t just drop this bomb on me and not give me something more. I need details. _Juicy_ details.”

“No, Chloe.”

“Max...”

“I said no.”

“Un-fucking-believable. And here I thought we were the bestest of friends.”

“We are!”

“Yeah right. This is betrayal, Max. Betrayal! See if I’m there when you two need someone for a threesome.”

“Wh-- Chloe!”

“Kidding, kidding,” the blunette assuaged. “Seriously though. She’s... kinda chill. I thought she’d be more of a bitch.”

“Yeah, I guess maybe I’m starting to rub off on her.”

“Oooh, nice! That’s what I’m talking about!” Chloe exclaimed jokingly. “What else are you two into?”

“That’s not what... Chloe!”

But she kept teasing and Max kept blushing. When they finally reached the truck Chloe was a bit more serious.

“I’m happy for you, you know?”

 _I know_ , Max thought and drew her friend in for a hug. When they pulled apart Chloe glanced in the distance to see the other three girls waiting for Max.

“That Taylor though... jeeeeeee-zus!”

“Yeah...”

“I mean _what_ is that girl’s problem?”

“I know, I know.”

“I’d call her stuck up, but that would be a huge fucking understatement.”

“So true.”

“She seriously needs someone to pull that stick from her ass.”

“I guess,” Max huffed a laugh in agreement.

“So, you think you can get me her number?”

“Yeah, it shouldn’t be a... Wait, what?!”

 

*

 

“Tori.”

“Mhm?”

“Whatcha doiiin’?”

“Busy,” the blonde muttered.

“I can see that. With what?”

“Max, I told you could stay if you keep quiet. I need to finish writing this paper by tomorrow.”

“Need any help?”

“No.”

“Need any... _motivation?_ ”

“Touch me and you die.”

“Awwww, I love it when you’re all lovey-dovey,” Max quipped sarcastically. She slowly made her way to Victoria, her mind juggling one mischievous idea after another. With a grin she noted the clothes the other girl wore as she worked on her paper. _Only the queen-bee of Blackwell would do homework dressed up to the nines. Would be a damn shame if someone were to... mess them up._

Soundlessly closing the distance between them, she grabbed the blonde from behind and wrapped her hands around her. “Mmmmm, did I ever tell you how good you smell?” she whispered as she leaned her chin on Victoria’s shoulder.

“Max...”

“Seriously, is that lavender?”

“Max!”

“I think I detect a hint of citrus too.”

“Get off me, you damn hipster!”

“’Get me off, hipster’? Good god, Tori – enough is enough. You have a paper to finish.”

“You know damn well that’s not what I--”

“But if you insist... scoot!”

With one deft move Max slid behind her girlfriend and onto the chair.

“H-hey... what are you-- Max! Off!”

“Too late, I’m here now,” Max noted with a smile. She pressed against the other girl as her hands slid around her body and she inhaled the scent that probably had nothing to do with lavender or citrus but was still borderline addictive. One tender kiss on the neck after another, she began making Victoria realize there were far better uses of her time than doing some stinking homework. “This isn’t distracting you, is it?”

“As if,” the blonde countered self-assuredly.

_Well then..._

Victoria continued to work on the paper and Max continued to work on Victoria. The blonde typed completely unfazed for a time, but when Max began to unbutton her shirt, some of that composure began to erode. And those infuriatingly soft kisses on her neck weren’t helping at all. Little by little, the brunette noticed a change in her breathing. The daylight outside prevented her from seeing the expression on her girlfriend’s face, though she still had a pretty good idea what it would look like. The only question now was how long Victoria planned on maintaining the pretence of continuing her work. Perhaps a surreptitious hand that snaked its way down to her skirt would help her along.

“Are you sure I’m not bothering you Tori?” The blonde huffed in frustration but gave no response. One glance at the laptop screen however, confirmed Max’s suspicions. “Because I’m pretty sure ‘fgzzz’ isn’t a word. Maybe we should stop.”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Victoria muttered under her breath and pressed against Max’s fingers. The brunette acquiesced, resuming her oh-so-diligent work. It was a rhythm Victoria was well acquainted with by now, and she knew better than to try and hurry Max along lest her plea backfire and be taken as an invite for further torment and delay. _Soon... very soon._

The pleasure within her built steadily along when, out of nowhere, the dream-like state between the two was shattered by the sound of a cell phone ringing.

“Wh-- fuck!” Victoria exclaimed, and glanced at her cell to see who was calling. “Ugh, it’s... Taylor. Just ignore it.” The volume wasn’t loud enough to put Max off her game, but either way, she had other ideas.

“Tori, you remember those fantasies you told me about?”

“Huh? What?” the blonde managed. “Uh... yeah.”

“Well... I have some of my own,” Max explained as the phone kept ringing. Her hand didn’t cease moving as she purposefully kept a pace that made a climax for the distraught Victoria seem all too distant.

“Tell me,” Victoria went along, and pressed her own hand over Max’s.

“Why don’t I... _show you?_ ”

Before Victoria could realize what was happening, Max reached for the phone.

“Max, what the fuck are you-- Oh, hey Taylor.”

There was no need for a visible reflection on the window in front of them – right now, Max knew exactly what was going through Victoria’s mind. It was strange trying to stifle laughter while getting the blonde off, but Max was nothing if not a multitasker.

“Listen, can I call you ba--” Victoria attempted, but the fingers working their way inside of her immediately ceased all motion. Max’s message was clear: You stop – I stop. “Uhm, n-never mind. What, uh... what’s up?”

The flames of her arousal now slowly being rekindled, the blonde did her best to continue the conversation. Somewhere at the back of her mind she knew how wrong this was, yet that only turned her on even more.

“Oh, no, I... I went running, that’s why I’m all... yeah.”

Lascivious licks down her neck.

“Yeah, which shop?”

Hand sliding inside her shirt to make its way to her bra.

“Oh, um... the green ones, right?”

Obscenely wet sounds that were hopefully not loud enough for Taylor to hear.

“Uh-uh, those... oh... um... those looked great, you should get them.”

A teasing finger circling her nipple to then squeeze the nub with no prior warning.

“Oh, fuck! I... no, I uh, just stubbed a toe. What were you saying? Uh-uh, right.”

Thumb brushing against her clit with every motion of Max’s hand.

“Yeah, those, um... those were nice too.”

She can feel herself leakin, her panties growing more and more sodden.

“Well, yeah... you c-can wear those tomorrow.”

Max’s tongue drawing close to that spot on her neck.

“Ugh! Uh, I...”

Fingers inside her now turning into a veritable blur.

“Yeah, I’m f-fine. Why?”

She can’t take it anymore.

“I... Uh, I’m... just uh...”

Scintillating pleasure threatening to utterly consume her any second now.

“Listen, I...”

_Oh, god. Oh god, no..._

“LookI’llcallyoulaterbye!” she blurted out in the last second before hanging up and surrendering to the wave of ecstasy that was washing over her. With quickened breaths she basked in the painful pleasure that seem to emanate from every part of her body as Max kept fingering her. Slowly, after what seemed like hours, she came to her senses and slammed her cell phone on the desk, which was warning enough for Max. The brunette jumped out of the chair and began slowly backing away before the seemingly furious Victoria.

“Tori, wait – look, I was just...”

“You...” Victoria began threateningly.

“Calm down, I was only...”

“... are...”

“But--”

“... so fucking dead right now!”

Before she could even think about reacting, Victoria lunged at her and they toppled onto the bed. _Oh well,_ Max thought as she surrendered to her terrible fate. There were worse ways to go than an alluring blonde kissing the life out of you.

 

*

 

It only made sense that not every single second of their lives from that point onward would be smooth sailing, but Max didn’t expect to face such a serious problem so soon. Serious or not though, they needed to get through this. Otherwise their relationship was doomed, that much they both knew. Only that knowledge did little to alleviate what looked to be a positively tormenting experience for Victoria. One glance at her girlfriend made Max realize just how worried she was. If there was any way to make it all better, to alleviate her anxiety, so use her superpowers in some way that would make the next couple of hours less horrifying for the blonde, Max would’ve jumped at the chance. If only...

She placed a tender hand on Victoria’s shoulder in show of support. They’ll get through this – together.

“Max... I don’t know if I can do this. Can’t we just...”

“Tori, the sooner we start, the sooner it will all be over. You _can_ do this, I believe in you.”

Victoria forced as much of brave smile as she could, yet inside she really wasn’t loving the prospect of what was to come. This simply wasn’t what she signed up for when they started their relationship. Every moment of the past few minutes made ditching the whole thing more and more appealing. And then one look at the encouraging and hopeful smile on Max’s face put all her fears to rest. She _can_ do this. She _will_ do this. For Max. Her girlfriend. She steeled herself and bravely nodded.

Max reached down and pressed ‘play’.

**_A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..._ **

“Oh god,” Victoria gasped in horror, “I can already feel hipsterdom washing over me.” This earned her prompt smack on the arm, which did nothing to remove the smirk from her face. If she had to endure the unimaginable agony of watching some hipster movie Max was so into, then the occasional jab or pun is the least her girlfriend should expect in terms of retaliation. But retribution aside, she still grabbed hold of Max’s hand as they sat on the blonde’s bed.

It would only later occur to Max that this was the first time Victoria made such a gesture, and how much that simple feeling of their fingers entwined meant to her. If she had already not submitted her photo for the assignment, this little act would’ve definitely been inspiration enough for a better one – a series of photographs or, if possible, short films, each one marking a stage of their relationship: First one with Victoria recoiling in shock, the next simply being close to Max and not pulling back, followed by Max reaching for her to encounter token resistance and at last – Victoria being the one initiating contact. The series title: ‘ _How Victoria Chase tried to bullshit herself into believing she’s not into me._ ’

“Hey, are you even watching?”

Max _was_ watching, though only vaguely. Because despite having seen the movie many times, the experience proved as new for her as it did for her girlfriend. For Victoria’s part, the novelty came from the fact that the film was not the unabashed hipster fest that she had been anticipating. As for Max, it was something different altogether. For the first time since she could remember, she found herself looking forward to not any part of the movie, but rather what came between. In those brief moments when the scenes transitioned, she looked at the darkened screen of the laptop and in its reflection saw the smile on her girlfriend’s face, oblivious of the fact she was mirroring her expression to a tee. And the best part of it was the knowledge that Victoria’s smile had nothing to do with what she was watching, and everything to do with whom she was watching it with.


End file.
